Chapter 20

"Mii'lian!" Seth'ius's angry voice reverberated around them. The sound of his armored boots hitting the walkways as he strode towards them drilled into their ears.

Lian groaned. They were almost there. Only a couple more hours and they would've made it to the other mansion. He turned to face his father, "Can you wait? For just a couple of hours-"

"What do you think you're doing here?" Seth'ius snarled as though he hadn't been aware that Lian had even been talking.

Lian scowled.

Seth'ius reached out to grab Lian's arm but Lian pulled away from him.

Lian glared at his father, "I'm not going anywhere, Father."

Seth'ius back handed Lian hard enough that he stumbled backwards.

"Lian!" Shanniah called out.

Daria caught Lian before he fell and pointed one of his swords at the kids past his brother.

Lian shoved the sword to the side, "Put that away. They're children. They don't stand a chance against you." He gave his brother a dark look before transferring it to Seth'ius.

"Where you go is not up to you," Seth'ius growled threateningly.

"He doesn't have to go back if he doesn't want to," Shanniah argued defiantly.

"He's perfectly well looked after here," Jexus added.

"Yeah!" Sammy agreed.

Lian turned to them. He swallowed and whispered, "Guys. You're gonna get hurt."

Seth'ius glared at them like he'd just now noticed they were there, "What he is and isn't able to do is none of your concern."

Lian gripped Spell Breaker where it was in his pocket. He slowly stepped towards his friends.

Daria grabbed his arm, "Mii'lian."

Lian pulled free, "Let me go!"

Daria grabbed him again and pulled him backwards, "Don't get involved in this! They're corrupted!" He wrapped both of his arms around Lian's shoulders and held him there.

"No they're not!" Lian fought his brother. He tried to pull free of him but had no success.

"Let him go!" Hailey yelled, "That's no way to treat someone you claim to care about! This isn't how family works!"

"Leave him alone!" Zven shouted.

"Insolent children," Seth'ius lifted one of his hands towards them.

"No! Father! Leave them alone!" Lian writhed in Daria's grasp. He clutched Spell Breaker tightly in his hand. He could feel the edge of the device digging into the palm of his hand painfully.

Mayu attempted to negotiate, "Father-"

Seth'ius's actions interrupted her.

In a single bright flash of light and a collective scream of pain the five teenagers turned to ash. The other kids remained silent, horror and fear twisting their small innocent faces.

Mayu almost vomited from the intense pain and fear and resolute determination. The five of them knew what they were doing. And the knew the likely consequences as well. Lian's screaming echoed in her mind like it was all far away. Her vision blurred and faded in and out from blackness. A ringing in her ears blocked out everything, except Lian.

"Let your dimwitted brother go," Seth'ius ordered harshly.

Daria let Lian go.

Lian dropped limply to his knees. He stared numbly at the ash that had been his friends.

"Get up," Seth'ius attempted to grab him.

Lian scrambled away from him and yelled, "Don't!" His voice got very low and vaguely threatening, "Touch me."

"Are you threatening me, Mii'lian?" Seth'ius asked angrily.

Lian got to his feet and dusted himself off. His body ached and his legs felt weak. He could hear the other kids quietly whimpering. But they were all too scared to cry. He glared at Seth'ius, "I'm not threatening you, Father. But they were my friends. I thought that's what you wanted. For me to interacting with people before judging them. To make friends. Or were you lying?"

"You don't have friends!" Seth'ius yelled, "People will either fear you or use you."

One of the other kids stepped forward on shaking legs that barely held her weight, "Lian." Her voice was barely audible.

Lian's grip on Spell Breaker tightened.

Seth'ius turned and lifted his hand towards the other kids, the same way he had Lian's friends.

Lian raced forward, outmaneuvering Daria, and placed himself between Seth'ius and the others. He threw his arms up in front of his face, making sure that just enough of Spell Breaker was showing between his fingers that it would be able to catch the spell.

The beam of light hit him full blast. He growled and it quickly escalated to a scream. He felt himself sliding backwards. The sleeves of his hoodie caught fire but he ignored the stinging sensation that accompanied it.

The beam faded. Lian still stood. His arms fell to his sides. He took his hoodie off, his breathing ragged. His arms were burned up to the middle of his upper arm. His gaze was harder than steel, "Don't. Touch. Them." His eyes narrowed, "Seth'ius." The blue grey of his eyes slowly shifted to a more saturated sky blue. They shifted and flowed like they were made of water. A wind kicked up around him, tossing his hair and ripping at his clothes.

"They are corrupted, Arkos'mii'lian," Seth'ius turned to fully face him, "Darkness and betrayal incarnate."

"They're just children," Lian growled, "You already destroyed their parents and their home. Leave. Them. Alone."

Seth'ius's hand rose again.

Lian's arms shot up in front of his face.

The beam came again.

Lian's heart skipped a beat when he heard a subtle cracking sound. Spell Breaker was breaking. It wouldn't be able to take another attack like this. He gritted his teeth. Defiant determination the likes of which he'd never known consumed him. He didn't care about what the consequences would be. His eyes deepened into a dark blue resembling water in a storm. His eyes turned opaque, filled with raging ocean waves. He screamed, "Leave thEM ALONE!" A warm tingling sensation surged through him along with a feeling of safety and comfort.

The ocean happily answered him. Pillars of water rose higher than the buildings around them. They coalesced into a gigantic sphinx. It's form was easily definable. It had visible facial features and waves rippled like muscles through it's body as it landed between Lian and Seth'ius.

The light beam was reflected in a thousand directions. Seth'ius stopped instantly before he was blinded permanently. However his vision blurred.

The sphinx swatted Seth'ius aside. The god of the sun flew sideways like a ragdoll.

Daria's eyes widened fearfully. He stepped back and held both of his swords more tightly. His hands shook slightly. He swallowed. In all of his five hundred thousand years of life he had never seen a water demon that was this defined. He could see the anger plain on it's face as it attacked his father.

Lian stared at the creature with empty eyes before he collapsed onto his side. Spell Breaker fell out of his hand and skidded a few inches away. It had a large crack down one side.